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EFF Beginners Guide
How the game works If you’ve happened to have played Ultima Online, UCGO's system is very much like it. If you haven't, heres a brief explanation: There are neither levels nor classes in UCGO. Every action you take, from firing a gun to tailoring a hat, will gradually improve the skill that it is associated with; irrespective of whether the attempt was successful. Each skill is rated from 0-130, and they increase in 0.1 point increments. You can have a total maximum of 800 skill points. Once you hit that limit you can choose to 'unlearn' some skills in order to raise others if you wish to do so. Don't worry too much over your stats. The only times where you really need to look at them are when you're trying to hit specific requirements to use certain hardware. For instance: the RX-75 Guntank requires a Mobile Suit skill level of 4 and a fighter level of 5 to pilot. While you can use it without the proper skill levels of skill, you won't be able to do anything else but walk around. Since the game revolves around skills it is possible to create a truly unique character depending on what it is you wish to do. Creating your character For EFF players, Sydney has been considered a good starting city due to its relatively high population and low instances of Zeon raids. Many Zeon players consider Brisbane a good starting point for similar reasons. Like all other online MMOs, you’ll get create a customized character. *You can choose male or female gender –each with four gender-unique face styles *Choose from 8 different gender-shared hairstyles *Choose from brown, black, or blonde hair color *Your choice of faction: Earth Federation or the Principality of Zeon Each player account has two character slots, leaving you free to have a character for both factions or for two on the same for different roles. You cannot delete a character until they've been active for two weeks. This is meant to prevent that the generation of new characters for the purpose of harvesting their starting money. Like a mobile suit, characters have skills of their own: *Strength: Damage *Spirit: Accuracy *Luck: Evade/Critical rate Like other skills, these increase over time. It is a common practice for many players to put their starting stats into Luck -and many players swear to its effectiveness. Once you log into the game you'll find yourself outside your local hangar. 2 Trainers will be parked in the city hangar waiting for you. Click on the hangar to ride your Trainer, then open your map to find your way to the local bank. There you will find 200,000 EF$ credits in your account, along with a set of 50 level 1 Emergency Repair kits. (ERs) Default Movement controls If you're using the control listing above, the commands are as follows: W & S - Forward/Back A & D - Strafe Q & E - Turn (Also done by holding the right mouse button and dragging) Z & C - Roll (When in space) F & V - Pitch (When in space, also done holding right mouse and dragging) Shift - Walk/Run hold-toggle left Ctrl - Jump X - Toggle Autorun R - Reload Tab - Combat/Peace mode switch 1-7 - Select weapon 8 - Toggle shield on/off Use your mouse to interact with your environment. To use the hangar, bank, or shops, simply double click on them. To select a friendly player, double-click them when they're in range. While in a vehicle or mobile suit, the range of interaction is greater. On foot however, you'll need to stand very close to who you wish to interact with. For interactions, see the '/' and communicating sections below. Camera controls Numpad (general) - Turn/rotate camera from chase position. Numpad 5 - Reset camera to default Numpad +/- - Zoom in/out Hold middle-mouse and drag - Orbit camera Combat controls Combat mode is activated upon hitting the tab button. When in combat mode the mouse cursor turns from green to red. Once in this mode you will be able to attack any available target -friend or foe. To target a target within weapon range, click on it for an initial lock, then press the left mouse button to open fire. To maintain constant fire, simply hold the mouse button down after attaining your lock on a target. To exit from combat mode and return to peace mode, press tab again. Be careful not to open fire upon a friendly. You will receive a warning message upon a lock-on as a fail-safe, so use caution. Should you attack a friendly you will become an open target to other friendly players. Essential '/' commands These are absolutely vital commands. used by pressing enter (or clicking the chat bar at the bottom of the screen) and typing them. Memorize them. */transport - This is your all-purpose 'travel' command. Use it to summon a transport aircraft to carry you to any pre-marked (either default or manually) location. Costs 1500 to use */auto - Auto-cruise. When in any vehicle, you can use this to travel (albeit in a straight line, so it's not usable in cities) to any bookmarked location. Advisable in certain situations, but generally it's better to fly. */taxi - If you're in town and not near a hangar, then it's best to use this. It rents you a little car to wander around town in, as otherwise it'd be a very long walk to your destination. This command only works in cities. Costs 650 to use. */getoff - Get out of your current vehicle. If you're in a taxi, it just deletes it from existance. If you're in a proper vehicle, it ejects you. Generally speaking, you're better off parking vehicles in a hangar (double-click on the hangar building) than leaving them out in the open. */mark - Bookmark your curent location, for future use via the /transport and /auto commands. It's advisable to put down a bookmark at every hangar you find, even if you already have a fairly close-by default bookmark. This cuts down travel time dramatically, and allows you to go anywhere you've been before simply by parking at a hangar, transporting to your new location and getting back into your vehicle. */trade - Target a unit (click on them in peace mode - a green hand pointer should appear on them) and type this to open the trade window. You can drag and drop anything from your inventory (backpack or container), or any nearby objects/vehicles you own into your trade panel. */transfer - This is good for transferring Mobile Suits and other vehicles from player to player. Target a friendly unit (same way as in /trade), and type this to open the transfer window. Then drag and drop your MS/vehicle into the window and press OK, and the thing switches owners. Non-essential '/' commands These are the commands that aren't essential, but are nice to know anyhow. */release - Target an MS or a vehicle while in peace mode, just like you target a friendly unit when trading or transferring. Then type this, and the MS/vehicle is no longer owned by anyone and anyone can take it. */unstick - If you get stuck and can't move, type this and miracles will happen. */shield - Type this when you arent wielding a shield, but have on in inventory. This will put it on. */fps on - Type this to show FPS. */fps off - And this to get rid of the FPS indicator. */gesture 0-6 - The only emotes in this game are there. Among them are salute, waving and pointing backwards. */scan - If you dropped something and can't find it, but are close by, type this. */sit - You sit down. Doesn't have any actual uses other than aesthetical ones. Works only when you're not in a vehicle or MS. */mine - When you go out with a mining vehicle to one of the mining locations, this is the command you mine minerals with. */alliance - When you type this command, It will switch your talk to your faction. */allianceall - When you type this command, it switchs your talk to your faction and put you in yell mode (2000m talk radius) */all - when you type this command, it switchs your talk so everyone can see it. *#online - Not exactly a '/' command, it displays how many players are online for both factions. * - Not exactly a '/' command, but it's still a nice one to know. When you type that, you broadcast your current coordinates so people will know where you are. NOTE: Almost all the windows and skills that can be used in the game by clicking with the mouse also have a '/' equivalent. Communicating with other players To talk with nearby players you only need to press Return/Enter or click the chat-bar at the bottom of the screen. There you can type any any message. You'll only be able to see chats from players in front of you, so it's advisable you use the journal. The journal can be found at the top of your screen. With the journal you'll be able to see all local chat, system messages, and skill messages. No MMO is complete without a friends list. To add someone to your friends list get within range to them and target them in peace mode. Then open the Community panel then press the add button. If they accept you'll both be added to each others friend list. Now you can open a chat panel with them at any time by clicking Community button. You can also have a group chat by clicking the group chat button and inviting in respective friends. Navigating about town Navigation is very easy, due to the town maps being in full english. A simple click of the 'Map' button should show you where you are, and where you want to go. If you're not within easy walking distance, use the /taxi command to get around quicker. Each town contains the following buildings, all of which are interacted with in the same way - double-clicking on them: 6th Bank - Where your money lives. Also has a vault with 30 item slots (a single gun will take up one slot, but so will 1000 bullets) for both Backpack (man-sized) and Container (Vehicle-sized) items. You should be alright leaving your money here, as your bank account is (usually) debited directly when you purchase items. Hangar - You ideally want to put a /mark down at every hangar you find. This is where you can store and immediately get into any vehicle you own, assuming you've stored it at a hanger beforehand - your hangar can hold up to 7 vehicles total. Machines - Where you buy vehicles. These are only stock models - fancier suits and tanks with custom engines, improved armor and the like have to be bought from players with crafting skills. Weapons - Buy your weapons, ammo, shields and repair kits here. Apparels - Buy clothes for yourself here, including rank-specific uniforms, if you want to be all fancy. Toys - Boxed scale-model Mobile Suits and ships and magazines on sale here. Just for show/laughs, really. Repair - Get yourself patched up if you're damaged. Command Post - Form squads here. It's free. You can only be in one squad/team at any time, though. Logistics Center - If your rank is high enough (if you're reading this, it probably isn't), you can buy pre-packed forward bases here, to deploy out in the wilderness. Materials/Mechanic Tools/Sewings - Crafting gear sold here. Tailor/MS MA/Raw Material/Weapon Factories - Ply your crafting trade here. Turn base resources into sellable goods. There's one special building - the Terminal, located at the Spaceport - but there are only two of them in the game (one for each side). The Federal one is outside Perth. The Zeon one is located outside of Darwin. You can use it to travel into space, obviously enough. This costs 2000. Buying your first unit If you're unsure what you're doing at the moment and haven't found any teammates, just travel to the Hangar and get out one of your Trainers. It is recommended that to travel to your local Machine Shop and sell both of your starting Trainer's, and purchase a LightArmor. This suit is the standard model workhorse of the EF army, and there are a great many variants of it available and are a much better upgrade and starting suit then a Trainer. It has no minimum requirements to use , so it's a good first choice. Note that you can't be in a vehicle when buying one. If you're in a Taxi, use the /getoff command first. Also, you should be able to buy this without withdrawing any money from the bank (debit cards of THE FUTURE!), but if it won't let you, then you should travel to the bank and withdraw your money. Don't worry - your human avatar can't die, so there's no threat of it being stolen. To withdraw cash, open the bank screen (double-click on the bank building) and your Backpack panel, and then drag the money from the bank money tab to your backpack money tab. Moving on... Equipping your first unit Ok, so now you're familiar with the commands and the basis of the communication system. You'll want to use a transport (command found in the useful commands section) and select Sydney Supply Camp 34, otherwise known as SS34. When you arrive at the camp, you'll want to get in your suit by walking over to the hangar (truck directly in front of you), walk over to the weapons shop (hummer to the left of you) and equip yourself with either a long rifle, GM Rifle, Beam Spray Gun, or A.E-Br.G-Sc-L. For the first two rifles, the GM Rifle and Long Rifle, buy 1000 rounds of MG ammo. For the two last weapons, buy 1000 rounds of beam ammo. You'll want to buy one or two RX-78 shields too. Next, head over to the bank (hummer to the right of the hangar/tip of the arrow) you'll want to take out all the lvl 1 ERs by dragging them into your MS. Fighting NPCs And now to put everything into action. Open up the following panels, and arrange them as you see fit: Machine (Health/Weapon & Shield Damage/Ammo) Radar (Set it to maximum range) Container (So you can see how much ammo you have in reserve, plus use repair kits) Sydney Supply Camps 9 and 34 are beginner areas; new players should begin combat by transporting to either of these locations. A camp is like a small town. It has a bank, vehicle/weapon stores, hangar and repair facility. They're located around every city, and there are frontline supply bases to be found (much) further out in the wilds, which you can /transport to quite easily, as they're pre-bookmarked. Switch to combat mode and engage - Bazookas/Cannons have high range and power, but middling accuracy and low fire rate. Machineguns naturally have middling power, middling range, fast fire rate. Your Saber is a powerful melee weapon, but it wears out quickly compared to other weapons, and requires you to be right up close - this may sound obvious, but if you charge in too eagerly, you can run right into the sight radius of other NPC enemies. A couple of tips for combat: - Keep an eye on the radar. Don't get pulled too deep into a fight, and don't get surrounded. Fight on YOUR terms! - If your shield is destroyed (or nearly destroyed) and/or your damage level hits 50% or higher, immediately begin autorunning back to the camp. If you don't know where it is, use /auto to help you find your way. At this point, you can't afford to lose hardware to stupid mistakes. - The moment you hit over 50% damage (you can't use them unless you're this damaged), begin using those Emergency Repair Kits - to do so, just double-click on it in your Container panel. As you currently have little-to-no repair skill right now, this will almost certainly fail. Don't give up, and keep trying until you've patched up some of the damage. You can do this while running back to base if you've decided to retreat. - Learn how each enemy works. Magella are weak and easy targets, but Zaku's will shell you from long range and do a lot of damage unless you can return in kind, or (if the opportunity presents itself) get into melee range and chop them up. - Enemies respawn quickly. Don't dawdle. Play it safe whenever possible - once you've got more money in the bank (you get a bounty on every NPC slain), you can afford crazy heroics, but not now. The spoils of war If you've actually won your fight, and there are no immediate threats to your person, you can begin to think about looting. Some enemies leave containers behind - they look like blasted piles of wreckage - just walk up to one, switch to peace mode and double-click it. You can now loot it. At this point, most enemies will drop very silly things. Toys, hats, maybe a handfull of bullets. Just drag an item from the list onto your unit to automatically put it in the correct slot (Backpack or Container). Occasionally you'll luck out and get something nice like an MS/Tank engine which can be sold at the Mechanic Tool store, or used (in part) to craft vehicles. Once you're full up on loot, a return to camp to store this stuff in the bank (for later selling in town) is advisable. Rinse and repeat until you're profitable. Also, by killing enemies, you gradually increase your rank. The higher your rank the more tasty and valuable a target you are for enemy players. Watch yourself. Fighting other players Don't even think about it - at least not yet. If you see an enemy player coming at you, chances are that you're already dead. If you're still at camp and have the opportunity, quickly dive into a hangar and store your vehicle. That'll save you. Other than that, hope that he deems you too small fry to even bother with. Death, defeat and dishonor So, you got clumsy. Enemies swarmed you, you forgot to run, or perhaps you just lagged out. Or worse still, you were flattened by a passing enemy player. So, what have you lost? Well, your current vehicle and everything it contained for starters. However, you can attempt to go back to pick up the contents inside the container of the remains of your suit. Also, don't worry or panic, just /transport back to town or your nearest camp and load up again, and give it another try. If you don't want to risk money, just use a Tank - both the tank and cannon for it are sold for 0 money, allowing you to use them as a risk-free training setup. Don't give up. Things are tough at first - if you can't handle things solo (it's never easy to), then just contact your fellow players on the IRC channel, or your Team Chat (if you're part of a squad) and ask for help. And if the worst comes to the worst and you bankrupt yourself, don't hesitate to ask for cash. You're more useful to your fellow players equipped and fighting fit than tooling around in a free Tank. Crime, punishment and shooting your friends Ideally, you want to avoid friendly fire, but occasionally you'll click the wrong guy in a heated battle, and accidentally shoot him in the back. To him and other players your name has now turned grey, and anyone is able to retaliate against you freely, so it's best to apologize. While your name is grey, you are a hostile target to NPC guards - hence, you'll want to get the hell out of there, and fast. After being marked grey you will have a one hour ban after logging out, you will be unable to transport or repair and you will be a target for friendly units for the time being. If you killed a friendly unit, the ban will be doubled for two hours. Avoid doing this. PvP is meant to be factional. By all means, spar with friends in the desert, but avoid teamkilling if at all possible. And that's about it, as far as basic play mechanics go. Good luck, and good hunting. Category:Guides